Karwar: A 17-year-old boy murdered his grandfather to arrange for money to get his ailing mother treated and for the education of his sister, police investigations revealed.

On September 15, retired forest guard John Anthony Fernandes (82) was found murdered in the bathroom at his home at Angadi village in Majali in Karwar taluk. He was murdered using lethal weapons and his body was found in a pool of blood.

Based on suspicion, the police enquired the man’s grandson who accepted of his involvement in the crime.

Reason for murder

SP Shivaprakash Devaraju said that Fernandes and his daughter (mother of the accused) had a dispute over the property issue. The accused was well aware of it. The accused had planned that he would easily sell off the land (part of the property in dispute) and get some money to get his mother treated if he killed his grandfather.

“The accused used to stay in Hubballi with his mother and sister. Both the siblings were academically bright students. The accused had scored 86% in PU Science stream. He had planned to get into an engineering college. However, he could not afford the fees and so had joined diploma course,” the SP said.

“The accused travelled from Hubballi in a bus with an intention to kill his grandfather. When he found Fernandes alone at home, he attacked him from the rear with a knife. After the murder, he took away the 50 gm gold the victim was wearing and got some money. When the neighbours of Fernandes were enquired, the land dispute came to the fore. When this issue was investigated, the accused was caught,” the SP said. The accused was arrested on Saturday and produced before the court.